The invention relates to wheel covers and the like fastened to the outer face of vehicle wheels. More particularly, the invention concerns an assembly for attaching wheel covers and other wheel mounted accessories to wheels having deeply inset or dished face portions, such as the outside wheels of dual wheel assemblies on large trucks and/or trailers.
Wheel discs, covers, hubodometers, wheel balancing systems, tire pressure monitoring systems or other wheel mounted accessories fulfill a number of needs in the trucking industry. Currently, considerable interest is being generated in using wheel covers to aid in streamlining large truck rigs. Such streamlining reduces air turbulence and drag, resulting in increased fuel efficiency, and reduces air buffeting noise and rain splashback. However, the number of relatively complex fastening systems used to attach the wheel covers and other accessories has increased.
Most, such as that shown in U. S. Pat. No. 4,761,040, use extensions or attachments for the mounting bolts common to all truck wheel systems which are normally used to fasten the axle shaft plate to the truck hub. Other fastening systems such as those described as prior art in the above patent, employ straps or bars which hook onto the cutout portions in the disc wheel face portion. These bars in turn are bolted to the wheel cover with a bolt plate or the like. In general though, these systems require several different parts or are provided in several different configurations to accommodate the many variations of lug bolt patterns and hand hold cutout configurations.
In another development, a dynamic wheel balancing system uses a metal ring positioned between the inset face of a truck wheel and the circumferential boss on the wheel mounting rim. The diameter of this ring is adjusted by an expandable section in the ring including a rotatable bolt positioned along the circumference of the ring which threadably engages projecting tabs on the ends of the metal ring. This system requires the use of at least one hand tool to mount the expandable ring, and could not be mounted or dismounted from outside the wheel, which limits its use for attaching wheel discs and other accessories which cover or seal the face of the wheel.